With many businesses closed on Martin Luther King Jr. Day Monday, there’s a bit of confusion about the U.S. Postal Service hours. Let’s clear things up.
Well, the short answer is that the USPS will not be open. According to Newsweek, Tuesday will have regular operating hours.
However, one USPS service called Priority Mail Express still runs. The service runs every day of the year for all customers.
There are 11 days that USPS mail carriers and postal service workers won’t work. Maybe somebody will come up with a helpful rhyme about it one day.
After Monday and New Year’s Day, there’s Presidents Day (Feb. 21), Memorial Day (May 30), Juneteenth National Independence Day (June 20), Independence Day (July 4), Labor Day (Sept. 5), Columbus Day (Oct. 10), Veterans Day (Nov. 11), Thanksgiving (Nov. 24) and Christmas Day (Dec. 26).
Martin Luther King Jr.’s birthday is celebrated annually in the United States on the third Monday of the first month of each year.
Federal Government Honors King For His Work
Monday is a day of celebration for the late pastor’s work on the late Southern Baptist preacher’s birthday in 1929. King campaigned and led marches throughout the south during the 1950s and 1960s to end racial segregation.
He worked to end separate accommodations in U.S. workplaces, public transport, and schools, demanding racial equality throughout the country.
King spoke on the Washington, D.C.’s National Mall on Aug. 28, 1963. The civil rights activist spoke to a crowd of 250,000 people that day. Historian John Meacham said the speech helped King join “(Presidents Thomas) Jefferson and Abraham Lincoln in the ranks of men who’ve shaped modern America.”
The USPS issued a Martin Luther King Jr. stamp on Jan. 13, 1979.
Many Businesses Shut Down on MLK Day
On Monday, a weekend snowstorm may close many businesses throughout the country, but they would probably be closed because of the national holiday. USPS is a federal agency while other businesses like UPS are privately owned.
According to Newsweek, United Parcel Service is operating normally. FedEx also needs its money, so its Home Delivery, FedEx Office, and FexEx Custom Critical operations are a go. Other services like FedEx Express and Ground Economy are working on a modified schedule, so you’ll need to check with their local branches.
But there’ll always be some confusion over USPS.
President Ronald Reagan signed the King National Holiday Bill into law on Nov. 2, 1983. Legislation to make King’s birthday a national holiday first came four days after his assassination on April 4, 1968.
When approved in 1983, 2000 was the first year all 50 states fully recognized the day as a state government holiday. According to Newsweek, South Carolina was the final state in the United States to recognize the day as a paid, stand-alone holiday. Before that year, state workers had a choice between King’s birthday and three other Confederate holidays as a paid day off.
